theasylogo
BLOG

My Dad's Crazier Than Your Dad

By Katharine Heller; Directed by Nell Balaban



BOTTOM LINE:  A one-woman autobiographical comedy chronicalling her father's antics with a good dose of improv humor.

Get ready for a crazy science experiment with Doctor Katharine Heller, Ph.D in Daddy Issues. It's all there, the whole scientific process, step by step analysis, fool proof scrutiny, and in the end there is no doubt about the validity of her hypothesis, which happens to also be the title of her play: My Dad's Crazier Than Your Dad: A Scientific Inquiry.

Heller will be the first to admit it, she's got daddy issues, she's attention starved, and every choice she has ever made has been a passive aggressive ploy to get hour father's attention. But as some point along the line she stopped using humor as a defense mechanism, took a step back, and realized she had a really great story on her hands. As long as it's not happening to you of course. And she won't stop until you believe it.

As you are taken through her quirky life, mostly by means of slideshows and absurd formulas, rest assured that Heller is always one step ahead of you. She has taken therapeutic art to a whole new level and shows no shame. She has a solid command of the stage as she deftly spins her tale with lots of improvised moments and even some audience participation, just in case you feel the need to throw a wrench in her infallible theory. Just be aware, she will always have another ace up her sleeve. Her comic charisma and 'aw shucks' attitude translates what could have been a depressing story into a comic feast. No doubt Heller has come out on top in her life-long feud with daddy, although we will have to wait and see if he'll attend to take the loss.

This is Heller's third Fringe appearance, following Naked In A Fishbowl in 2007 and The Boy In The Basement in 2008, which was extended to Fringe's Encore series. 


(My Dad's Crazier Than Your Dad: A Scientific Inquiry plays at Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie St. through August 27th. Remaining performances are Friday 8/20 @ 6:15pm, Wednesday 8/25 @ 4:15pm and Friday 8/27@ 9:00pm.  Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door, and are available at FringeNYC.com, by calling 866.468.7619, or in person at FringeCENTRAL, located at 1 East 8th Street at 5th Avenue. There is NO LATE SEATING for Fringe NYC shows.)